Brazilian Peppertree on Galveston Island

Just by the looks of it, it’s hard to imagine how such an innocuous looking plant as the Brazilian peppertree could wreak such havoc on the native ecosystems of Galveston Island. Many island residents will describe it as a rather pretty shade tree, and understandably so. Its dense evergreen foliage and bright red berries (that come just in time for the Christmas holidays) might make it a rather desirable plant to have around.

But there’s another side to the Brazilian peppertree. Its leaves, when crushed, smell of turpentine, and its berries contain volatile terpenes. As a member of the Anacardiaceae family, it is a relative of poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac, and any part of the plant can cause similar respiratory irritation and contact dermatitis in some people.

Brazilian peppertree is, in fact, a highly invasive species. It is native to Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina and, like many other non-native plants, was brought to Texas as an ornamental. It has all the qualities of a successful invasive species—rapid growth rate, dense foliage and root mass, production of large quantities of fruits and seeds, high seed viability, and effective seed dispersal (by birds). The shrub-like growth form readily tangles with neighboring peppertrees, forming a thicket that shades out all other plants. It also chemically suppresses the growth of understory plants.

Without prevention and control measures, this highly invasive species has the potential to establish large, widespread monocultures, outcompeting native plant species in wetlands and coastal prairies, much like the Chinese tallow has done. It has already taken an aggressive hold in the Florida Everglades and is currently invading parts of California, Louisiana, and the Texas coast.
Over the past few decades, residents of Galveston Island, particularly near Sweetwater Lake, noticed this plant quickly establishing itself in their yards and in adjacent natural areas. Despite the efforts of some, there was no slowing it down. It wasn’t until Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) biologist Jamie Schubert identified this plant as Brazilian peppertree in 2003, that local property owners were made aware of what they were dealing with.

In 2005, the Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF) worked with TPWD, and with several grants from the TCEQ Galveston Bay Estuary Program and the Restore America’s Estuaries-NOAA national partnership, was able to chemically treat and remove Brazilian peppertrees to the extent that the project budget would allow. Though substantial in some areas, the extent of infestation allowed GBF the opportunity to remove all known occurrences of the invasive plant from GBF’s own Sweetwater Nature Preserve, the Galveston Island Municipal Golf Course, Scholes Airport, and approximately 16 private residential properties whose owners gave permission to GBF and/or our vegetation control contractor for removal work.

This year, GBF has successfully raised grant funds from the US Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program, Texas Coastal Management Program (NOAA funds), TCEQ Galveston Bay Estuary Program, and the Restore America’s Estuaries-NOAA national partnership to expand the area of treatment to a heavily infested area along the I-45 entrance to Galveston Island as well as re-treat some of the same areas treated in 2005.